Narsee Monjee bids quota bye

A college without reservations? A Mumbai management institute has become just that. The only criterion for admission is merit. Narsee Monjee...

A college without reservations? A Mumbai management institute has become just that. The only criterion for admission is merit.

Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Vile Parle (West), has pulled out of the Mandal debate and scrapped its reservations for students belonging to SCs and STs. It has also done away with a 50 per cent quota for the linguistic minority. The NMIMS was recently awarded a deemed university status.

‘‘There are no quotas,’’ confirms V-C Dr H.H. Mankad. ‘‘Only those students who score more than the cut-off marks in the entrance test will make it to the next round of the selection procedure.’’ On the scrapping of the SC/ST quota, academicians believe it is not only unfair but also flouts standard norms. Mumbai University senate member Dr Tushar Jagtap has written to the UGC. ‘‘I have urged the UGC to ensure that this national policy on reservations be implemented even in deemed universities,’’ he says.

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Those who run the NMIMS have their defence ready. ‘‘We are an unaided private minority institution. The SC judgment exempts us from these policies. So does our deemed university status,’’ says Amrish Patel who heads the college trust. He is also the School Education Minister. The judgment recognises the freedom of private educational institutions with respect to admissions provided they are under the eye of a regulatory authority.

There is chaos as to the possible interpretations of the judgment. This may be the reason for the NMIMS’ decision. The UGC does not endorse Patel’s view. ‘‘These reservations are statutory norms. A deemed university is not exempt from them,’’ says UGC chairman Arun Nigwekar.